Mittens is taking it on the chops this week. It has simply got to get better for him.
Still, he does not seem to ‘get it’ about the whole when did he leave Bain thing. Presume he just gets ticked off at little people asking about his finances. Is there any chance he would give up on his nomination? I mean the man has been running for president since birth.
Anyone think he might actually quit?
As a more practical question, what would happen if a presumed nominee somehow became disqualified at this (pre-convention) stage?
There would be a hell of a scramble, and the convention itself could be very interesting, but I expect they’d come out of it with a candidate and be able to run a reasonably credible campaign then through election day.
Honestly, the white-hot intensity of the coverage in such a scenario, the flush of energy and interest, the feeling of a “second chance”–it might work out to a big boost for the new candidate.
The incorrect information Romney supplied the FEC may constitute a felony but who would determine that? The FEC, DOJ, or SEC? And how could it not appear politically motivated?
I think Romney will skate by this. The only damage will be political.
He’s not going to quit. It’d make for some fascinating drama as the primary losers and some possible compromise candidates maneuvered for position up until the convention, but there’s no way it’s going to happen based on anything that’s happened so far. That said, he’s going to continue to get hammered over these disclosures and his finances in general. Especially if he can’t think of a better solution than saying “I’m not releasing any more tax forms and Obama should apologize.” This has become a serious problem and that’s not going to make it go away.
I think we’re seeing that the primary didn’t toughen Romney up. Whenever an anti-Romney popped up in the primaries, they either self-destructed or a few zaps from the Death Star ad machine took care of them. Gingrich and Santorum simply aren’t in Obama’s league. When they brought up the Bain stuff in the primaries, Romney just had to tell the GOP godfathers to make them an offer they couldn’t refuse. Now he just thinks he can throw a tantrum and demand an apology. The Bain story has legs. He thinks that he can absolve himself of the activity of a company for which he was sole stockholder, chairman of the board, CEO, and president.
I think he’s on par with Dukakis. I read somewhere yesterday that this refusal to *effectively *respond to the opposition is as bad as Bush’s takedown of Dukakis in '88. Bush’s team created a narrative of Dukakis as a soft-on-crime liberal and it stuck right through election day because Dukakis was never able to (or unwilling to) counter it.
He’s far too arrogant to quit, I can’t think what the GOP would have to do to convince him to do so; the only ‘best interests’ he’s concerned w/ is Mitt’s.
He’s the most apparently electable multibillionaire the GOP is willing to sacrifice this election cycle. There may be other, nearly as rich and potentially electable candidates but the GOP’s not willing to risk wearing them out against an incumbent who won by some 9 million popular votes. They’re swallowing a bitter pill that’s made a little sweeter b/c after he loses they won’t have to worry about going up against Romney’s money and influence again; there’s nothing he can mitigate to be any more electable in 4 years. His job for the last 8 years has been convincing the GOP to let him run for POTUS; he’s getting his chance, he’ll lose and he’ll no longer have a leg to stand on about running.
On a side note, wouldn’t it be interesting if a few national news outlets speculated what the process would be if the presumptive candidate was forced out? There’d be more than a few loose bowels over that news cycle.
Right now he’s coming across as a whiny bitch. Maybe he *should *step down before he really gets his feelings hurt. Asking for apologies from your political opponent this early in the campaign? Very presidential, Mittens.
In my opinion, speculation about the impact of the Bain issue is inevitable. News outlets thrive on controversy and this is a relatively easy matter to explain to the public. In fact, as far as I can tell, either Mitt Romney misfiled with the SEC or with the Federal Election Commission. There is no third choice here. Please correct me if I am incorrect.
In reality, since Mr. Romney is the presumptive candidate of one of the two major political parties, his actions are probably going to be ignored in the long run. Money and power trump the rule of law in many cases, and this is a prime example.
Mr. Romney’s strategy appears to be to complain that Mr. Obama isn’t playing fair.
Five interviews this morning and essentially they all focused on what Mr. Romney is saying about the issue, not the issue itself.
That may change.
But, it probably won’t.